A Return to the Fireside
“There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.” – Ursula K. LeGuin
From the earliest days of human civilization, our ancestors crouched around campfires or huddled in huts and told stories. The stories passed the time, but more than that they communicated cultural norms, taught lessons, carried forward a sense of history, and engendered a sense of commonality. Storytelling bound the tribe together, creating, reinforcing, and perpetuating a culture and a society.
In modern times we have drifted from our campfires and eschewed the communal hut. Infinitely connected through technological means we still manage to navigate life generally isolated from our fellow human beings. We seal ourselves up in automobiles. Even while walking most people in the modern urban environment either have a Bluetooth headset in or iPod earbuds. Our homes are impenetrable fortresses. Really, does anyone sit out on their porch anymore?
In our small but Ficly way let us now come back together, seek a spiritual rapprochement if you will. Come, sit by our digital campfire. Make yourself at home in the communal longhouse of the internet. Tell us your story. Remind us what it means to be a part of the larger human family once again. Let us create, let us be, let us nurture a society. A society of storytellers.
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